Landscape Architecture:The Profession and Education

Synopsis: Edited by Yu Kongjian and Li Dihua, this seminal work on landscape design was published by China Architecture & Building Press. Adopting an international perspective, it constructs a theoretical framework for the discipline and its education, reconstructs the academic system of landscape design, clarifies the profession's positioning, and advances the modernisation of Chinese education. The book defines landscape from multiple dimensions as a composite medium interweaving nature, culture and ecology, transcending traditional aesthetic constraints to emphasise its integrated value as habitat, ecosystem and cultural symbol. Landscape design is established as an interdisciplinary practice coordinating human-land relationships, encompassing planning and design branches that integrate ecology, art and social sciences—distinct from adjacent fields like architecture and engineering.

The book systematically analyses international educational models (such as Harvard's Design Thinking and ASLA certification), contrasting these with China's educational shortcomings—including fragmented curricula and weak practical training—and calls for establishing a dual-track system of professional certification and academic research. This aims to cultivate interdisciplinary talents possessing both scientific rationality and humanistic concern. Ultimately, the book anchors the discipline's mission in addressing global ecological crises and cultural challenges, advocating an ecologically rational design paradigm. Through educational reform, it propels Chinese landscape design from formalism towards sustainable practice, establishing itself as a crucial theoretical foundation for the discipline's professionalisation and internationalisation. Its core value lies in constructing a modern knowledge framework for landscape design, charting a course for China's industry development and talent cultivation.